Transfer Punch Needle & Rug Hooking Patterns with a LED Light Box

Can you transfer punch needle & rug hooking patterns with the new LED Light Boxes? I tried a couple of different patterns with various foundation fabrics.

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I have an old bulky light box

that I use for transferring punch needle patterns.

A while back I noticed that there are new LED light boxes

that are super thin – more like a tablet really.

(I realize this is NOT new technology,

but sometimes I am slow to catch on!)

They are pretty affordable, so I decided to get one to try it out.

Working the Light Box:

My lightbox came with a USB power cord

that can be plugged in to a USB charger

or directly into a computer for power.

The light part measures about 8 inches by 12 inches.

(They also come in larger sizes. )

With the power button on my lightbox,

you can turn it on and off

AND if you press and hold the button,

it raises or lowers the brightness of the light.

For my experiment here, I used the light at its brightest.

The Patterns:

I decided to try various foundation fabrics using two different patterns.

The sheep pattern has very bold lines

while the George pattern has thinner lines.

I wanted to find out just what could be seen through the Light Box.

Pattern through Weavers Cloth:

I tried seeing the sheep pattern through white weavers cloth

natural colored weavers cloth,

and a hand dyed dark grey weavers cloth.

You can see the patterns easily through the white and natural fabrics.

You can see it through the dark grey fabric,

but it would be more challenging to trace.

Next, I tried the George pattern through all three fabrics.

Again, the white and natural fabrics are easy to see through.

However, it would not be possible

to trace this one through the dark fabric.

Rug Hooking Foundation Fabrics:

For those who might want to use this type of light box

for their rug hooking or rug punching projects,

I also experimented with monks cloth and bleached primitive linen.

The sheep pattern is easy to see through the monks cloth.

You can see the George pattern, but it is certainly not as easy to see.

With the bleached primitive linen,

you can easily see the sheep.

George can also be seen, but not as easily.

Concluding Thoughts:

If you have a pattern with light lines,

you could trace over the lines with a marker

to make them darker if needed.

(I would photocopy the pattern first if copyright allows.)

Please feel free to photocopy any of my patterns

before tracing them if you need!

If you are using a light box like this with a larger pattern,

it would be easiest to pin or tape the pattern to the foundation fabric.

That way they will stay together

when you move the pattern around on the light box.

Blessings~
Amy